A new study has identified 234 stars, out of a sample of 2.5 million, that display an odd pulsing signal.

The two astronomers who conducted the study utilized data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey for their findings, and reported that the pulsing is much like what a signal from an intelligent alien race would look like if they were attempting to make contact.

The astronomers, as well as outside experts, have raised speculations that there is a possibility aliens might be involved, and due to the lack of concrete answers regarding the strange behaviour, it is a realization that ought to be considered.

For their findings, the astronomers, Ermanno Borra and Eric Trottier from Laval University in Canada, looked at 2.5 million stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) project. Their study, published in the journal Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, explains that they believe the signals recorded could be aliens attempting to make contact with Earth. Their conclusion came as result of a prior study conducted by Borra that envisioned the shape of an extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) signal. The 234 signals recently discovered are an exact match to this very shape.

Only 234 out of 2.5 million stars in our sun’s spectrum giving off this signal reveal a match with the prior ETI hypothesis. And while the astronomers suggest the possibility of alien communication, it’s just merely one of the many possibilities that they believe could be the cause, including “rotational transitions in molecules” or “rapid pulsations.”

The authors urge that this isn’t the discovery we’ve been needing to confirm that we are not alone in the universe, however. They admit more work is required in order to even further suggest this theory. They have also taken into consideration the doubtful situation that the signals are the result of highly strange chemical compositions in a small amount of galactic halo stars.